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Avatar Yakov Velikiy
Avatar Yakov Velikiy (Яков Великий) ''was the sixth Avatar to Koloktos in the New World. He is remembered as a legendary figure in history for being the first Avatar since Airwalker Vaike to forge a spiritual connection with Koloktos himself, granting him incredible powers. He was one of the leaders of the Yakovian Revolution despite his young age at the time, and is the namesake of the Kingdom of Yakovia. Additionally, the sun depicted on the flag of Yakovia is a direct reference to the Great Big Light, Avatar Yakov's brief connection with Koloktos in 477; a bond so powerful in the moment that it emitted a light that was visible in various forms all over the world, seen directly in the northern hemisphere and seen as an aurora in the southern hemisphere. Yakov's powers and respectable demeanor captured the hearts of his contemporaries. He left behind a world sorrowful for his absence but ultimately grateful for his contributions to mankind. Childhood Yakov was born in 456 in New Albatross ''(Новый Албатрос), the capital city of the then Kingdom of New Rybak. He and his family lived in a small residential area in the Judicial District of the city. His home was at his time one of the larger homes in the area, but quickly became the smallest after the developments in the district following the Yakovian Revolution. Though Yakov's childhood home was untouched during his lifetime out of respect, it would later be lawfully deemed a protected heritage site by his friend Alm's daughter Queen Liliya of Yakovia, one of her first decrees as Queen after the passing of her father. The first eight years of Yakov's life went by peacefully. He was the son of activist parents who often indulged in the arts, with his father being a well known glassblower in their neighborhood and his mother a poet. Yakov got along well with his parents being an only child as well as with his close friends from school; the closest of his friends being a boy called Alexei. Alexei's father was an affluent lawyer in New Albatross who knew Yakov's father well and would thus visit Yakov's home often, bringing the two young boys close. Yakov and Alexei had a large group of friends in primary school with whom they would play skyball on the courthouse roof which was easily accessible at the time. Yakov would later recall this period in his life as being "the only years during which I could live innocently" as his life would turn around completely in 464. The Massacre Near the end of Avatar Kaarle's life, plans were put in place for the establishment of a Taiga Union akin to the union of the Western Powers that was established between Eagland, Fayette, and the Kleijnlands. Though there were plans to construct a headquarters for this union in the 450s somewhere in Charleston, Avatar Kaarle passed away early in his life before the construction could begin. With no leader in place to dictate the finances, Evazia quickly pulled their money away from the project believing they would likely be taken advantage of by New Rybak and Gransylvania. As a response to this, New Rybak's then monarch King Ivanovich announced to his citizens that taxes would be raised to account for Evazia's failure to contribute adequately. It is believed that this was a part of a plan by Ivanovich to turn his people against the Evazians so that he could justify war to once again unite the peninsula under one crown, except this time the Rybaki crown. The citizens of New Rybak were instead more critical of their own King and the city was soon after crowded by protestors, some more violent than others. Yakov remembers little of this period of the conflict except for some memories he shared with Alexei regarding conversations their parents would have together. Their parents met more regularly around this time to discuss the conflict as they were all subscribed to the opposition to Ivanovich. Eight year old Yakov and Alexei contributed little to their efforts besides hearing news from people in the streets while wandering around. As a sign to the people of New Rybak that they were not forgotten despite the unrest, the GCU sent their top diplomats to the city to meet with Ivanovich so that the fate of the Taiga Union could finally be determined. The diplomats arrived in the winter of 464, an arrival that attracted the largest crowd of protestors the city had ever seen. Among the protestors were Yakov and Alexei's parents. The general consensus among the civilians were that they were not interested in establishing a Taiga Union unless Evazia payed their fair share; believing that they should not have to suffer more for their benefit. Most of the protestors respected the arriving diplomats seeing them as a sign of changing times whereas others saw the diplomats as figureheads of the establishment that threatened their sovereignty. Among those more violent protestors was a writer called Mikhail Bulgakov who had recently pledged to his fellow protestors that he would give his life to the cause. The last of the diplomats to arrive was also the most influential: Jourdain du Nord. Being a close friend of Queen Auke of Fayette and a diplomat with the GCU for many years, his arrival was most anticipated. Queen Auke had supposedly advised Jourdain and his wife to call off the meeting in Albatross and demand they meet in Covington or Charleston instead. She claimed it is what Kaarle would have preferred as he supposedly referred to the city of Albatross as a "powder keg soaked in alcohol," a description she took seriously. Albatross to her was a city too likely to go up in arms to host such an event. Jourdain and the rest of the GCU ministers disagreed and hosted the event anyway. Just as Jourdain and his wife were entering the palace of Albatross, the aforementioned Mikhail let out a cry and shot Jourdain down. After hearing the sound of the gunshot and the loud cry of Jourdain's wife, Ivanovich quickly responded by ordering his soldiers to "shoot the assassin." Because Mikhail disappeared among the crowd, the soldiers fired at random. Two bombs would later go off in the panic, killing many more protestors. Mikhail was eventually captured and sent to the palace dungeon, as well as Alexei's father. Yakov's father was among the first shot and killed after the soldiers began firing at the crowd. Yakov's mother was then killed by one of the two bombs as she was tending to her fallen husband. Alexei's mother was also killed by the soldiers. Alexei's captured father was damned by the government which would change Alexei's surname to Izmenikovich (son of a traitor). Afterwards, his eyes were gouged out and he was thrown into the tundra north of the city. He was later found dead in a cave west of the city's Fort Gorod. Yakov and Alexei were watching the protests from their usual spot at the courthouse. They witnessed everything as it unfolded, but Yakov wouldn't realize his parents had been killed until he went down and stood over their mutilated corpses. This event would come to be known as the Massacre of 464, and was the first catalyst to the Yakovian Revolution. The Famine After the assassination of Jourdain du Nord, all plans for a Taiga Union established through the GCU were called off, leaving it in the hands of the nations themselves. Not only do none of the Taiga nations take the initiative, they all cut contact with one another which put both Evazia and New Rybak in a very weak position. Through the late 460s, the citizens of New Rybak endure a great famine coupled with an even higher increase in taxes justified by the state's attempt to reignite plans for the union. After their parents were killed, Yakov and Alexei move in together and try to take care of themselves. They stay at Yakov's home which was not repossessed by the government like Alexei's home was. As far as the government was concerned, nobody was living in Yakov's home and thus no soldiers ever came to collect tax or any other payment. The two young boys quickly faced the struggles of the famine, sometimes fasting for long periods of time. Though they knew they had to anyway, this prompted them to pick up some jobs off the books that they could do after school for some extra money. Alexei started working on the docks while Yakov started working as a farmer on the city's potato & radish farms as well as construction work. Since the massacre, rebels in the city have been sought out by the central government. By 470, over thirty rebel leaders were captured and banished to the tundra. One week in the deep winter of 470 was especially bad for Yakov and Alexei. This brought the then fourteen year old Yakov to his patroon's quarters where he inquired about where all the food they were planting was actually going. Yakov had assumed that they were purchased by merchants who sold it at the town for a higher price, but he was surprised to learn that all the supply would go directly to the palace where Ivanovich's men would budget the food into small crates and distribute it to the merchants who would then sell it to the people.